Mobile telephone with pager mode

ABSTRACT

A mobile telephone is arranged to detect when its battery voltage has fallen such that only the lowest segment of the four segment battery charge level bar of its LCD display is showing, and, in response, to transmit a “Restricted Delivery Mode” message to a predetermined network destination number, and then to disable its transmit function. An audio signal is generated to alert the user, and a warning message is displayed, e.g. Battery Low, Message Mode. Restricted Delivery Mode is a selectable option via the telephone&#39;s menu. The mobile network, upon receipt of such a “Restricted Delivery Mode” message, sets a “Restricted Delivery Mode” flag in the user&#39;s profile.  
     For an originating call the profile is accessed in the normal manner, and, if that flag is set, the network sends, e.g. a “Receive Only—Leave Message” announcement to the caller.

[0001] The present invention relates to communications methods andapparatus, and particularly, but not exclusively, to methods ofoperating mobile communications networks, and to mobile telephones foruse with mobile communications networks.

[0002] According to a first aspect of the present invention there isprovided a method of operating a communications network having a userprofile store, the method comprising the steps of:

[0003] retrieving a dialled destination number from signalling data of acall from a calling user to a called user;

[0004] accessing the user profile store in accordance with thatretrieved dialled destination number to find a corresponding userprofile;

[0005] ascertaining whether a delivery mode field of a user profile sofound contains an indication corresponding to restricted delivery mode;and if so

[0006] sending to the calling user an indication that the called user iscurrently in restricted delivery mode.

[0007] This aspect of the present invention is particularly beneficialin mobile telephony and provides an advantage that by virtue of thatRestricted Delivery indication, e.g. an announcement to the effect thatthe called user currently wishes to receive only text messages, sent bythe mobile network to the caller, the caller is immediately alerted tothe situation that the called user's mobile telephone is currentlyregistered with the mobile network, i.e. switched on and capable ofreceiving, but that either the mobile telephone is in low batterycondition, or that for some reason the user has commanded the network tohandle his incoming calls in a restricted way in accordance with hischosen delivery mode settings in his user profile.

[0008] There may be included the further steps of retrieving a callingline identity from the signalling data, ascertaining whether theretrieved calling line identity matches an entry in a permittedconnections field of the called user's user profile, and if there is amatching entry proceeding with the call, else not proceeding with thecall. In this preferred method, the calling user will be connected tothe called user and will forewarned to the situation, and similarly thecalled user, upon receiving a call when in Restricted Delivery mode,will know that no initial explanation of the situation will benecessary.

[0009] There may be included the step of responding to receipt ofmessage data from that calling user by sending a text form message tothe called user.

[0010] When the received message data is in the form of a spokenmessage, there may be included the step of converting the receivedmessage data into text form.

[0011] The received message data may be already in text form.

[0012] There may be included the steps of ascertaining whether thecalled user's profile contains at least one other service destinationaddress, and if so sending to the calling user an invitation for thecalling user to select one or more of said at least one other servicedestination address for additional delivery of said text form message.

[0013] According to a second aspect of the present invention there isprovided a telephone comprising control means arranged to respond to apredetermined condition by transmitting via a transmit function of thetelephone a message having a predetermined destination address and apredetermined message content.

[0014] The control means may be arranged to respond to a user providedcommand, constituting a said predetermined condition.

[0015] The control means may be arranged to receive the user providedcommand in the form of a selection from a menu.

[0016] When the telephone is battery powered, it may have batteryvoltage sensing means arranged to generate a predetermined output whenthe battery voltage falls to a predetermined level, and in this case thegeneration of said predetermined output constitutes a said predeterminedcondition.

[0017] The control means may be further arranged to provide apredetermined display on a screen of the telephone indicative of thepredetermined condition.

[0018] The control means may be further arranged to activate, uponcompletion of that transmission, means for selectively disabling thetransmit function.

[0019] The control means may be further arranged to override said meansfor selectively disabling the transmit function for the purpose ofallowing transmission of responses to interrogation signals from acommunications network.

[0020] The control means may be further arranged to provide an audiooutput upon activation of said means for selectively disabling thetransmit function.

[0021] According to a third aspect of the present invention there isprovided a communications network having a user profile store, andarranged:

[0022] to retrieve a dialled destination number from signalling data ofa call from a calling user to a called user;

[0023] to access the user profile store in accordance with thatretrieved dialled destination number to find a corresponding userprofile;

[0024] to ascertain whether a delivery mode field of a user profile sofound contains an indication corresponding to restricted delivery mode;and if so

[0025] to send to the calling user an indication that the called user iscurrently in restricted delivery mode.

[0026] Communications networks in accordance with this third aspect maybe arranged to retrieve a calling line identity from the signallingdata, to ascertain whether the retrieved calling line identity matchesan entry in a permitted connections field of the called user's userprofile, and if there is a matching entry to proceed with the call, elsenot to proceed with the call.

[0027] Preferably, such communications networks are arranged to respondto receipt of message data from that calling user by sending a text formmessage to the called user.

[0028] More preferably, such communications networks are arranged torespond to receipt of said message data in the form of a spoken message,and to convert the spoken message into text form.

[0029] Such communications networks may be arranged to ascertain whetherthe called user's profile contains at least one other servicedestination address, and if so to send to the calling user an invitationfor the calling user to select one or more of said at least one otherservice destination address for additional delivery of said text formmessage.

[0030] Specific embodiments of a mobile communications network and of amobile telephone for use with that network will now be described by wayof example with reference to the drawings in which:

[0031]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a mobile telephone arranged tosend a “Delivery Mode—Message Only” message to a mobile network;

[0032]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a mobile communications networkarranged to play a warning announcement to a caller if a delivery modeflag in a user profile for the called user is set;

[0033]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of some of the fields of a userprofile used in the network of FIG. 2; and

[0034]FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an alternative embodiment of themobile telephone of FIG. 1.

[0035] In this description the following acronyms are used

[0036] BSS—Base Switching Subsystem

[0037] CLI—Calling Line Indication, also known as Calling Line Identity,

[0038] FET—Field Effect Transistor

[0039] GPRS—General Packet Radio Service

[0040] GSM—Global System for Mobile Communications (Groupe SpecialeMobile)

[0041] HLR—Home Location Register

[0042] IVR—Interactive Voice Response

[0043] LCD—Liquid Crystal Display

[0044] MSS—Mobile Switching Subsystem

[0045] NSS—Network Switching Subsystem

[0046] OSS—Network Switching Subsystem

[0047] SMS—Short Message System

[0048] VLR—Visitor Location Register

[0049] In FIG. 1 there is shown a mobile telephone 10 having a battery12, and a battery voltage sensing circuit 14 providing an output signalto a control unit 16 which provides drive signals to an LCD screen 18.Depending upon the output signal of the voltage sensing circuit 14, thecontrol unit 16 commands the display of a four segment battery voltageindicator, commonly known in the art as a battery charge level bar. Ifthe battery is fully charged then all four segments show, and as thebattery discharges then the segments are “extinguished”, one by one,starting at the fourth (top) segment, until low battery voltage isreached and only the first segment is shown, referred to herein as themobile telephone being in low battery condition, and finally when thebattery voltage becomes too low to power the mobile telephone 10 thefirst segment is extinguished and the mobile telephone switches itselfoff.

[0050] The mobile telephone 10 also has other components, including anaerial 20, a receive circuit 22 a transmit circuit 24, and a keypad 26.

[0051] In addition to controlling the mobile telephone 10 inconventional manner, the control unit 16 of this embodiment is arrangedto respond to the “extinction” of the next-to-last segment to transmit a“Delivery Mode—Message Only” message to a Network Switching Subsystem(NSS) 36 of a GSM network 30 (see FIG. 2) to inform it that that themobile telephone 10 has a low battery condition and that the deliverymode for calls to that mobile telephone 10 is to be changed from Normalto Message Only in the manner described below. The message contains thetelephone number of the mobile telephone as its calling number (CallingLine Identity, CLI), and a predetermined telephone number of the GSMnetwork as its called number, and its message content is a unique coderepresentative of the Delivery Mode—Message Only mode. Calls made tothat predetermined telephone number are received directly at the NSS 36,and processed by a profile management program forming part of thecontrol programs of the NSS 36.

[0052] In a variant, the control unit 16 is also arranged to send theDelivery Mode—Message Only message to the network in response toselection by the user of Message Only mode from a menu system.

[0053] The general manner of controlling the functions and operation ofa mobile telephone by means of a menu system is well known and will notbe described in detail, other than in respect of the particular menusystem of the mobile telephone 10 of the present invention, whichincludes “Message Mode” as a top level menu function ranking with Phonebook, Messages, Call register, etc. When the user selects “MessageMode”, the control unit provides displayed text which is either “CurrentMode—Message” or “Current Mode—Normal”, depending upon whether the lastDelivery Mode message sent by the control unit was “Message Only” or“Normal”, i.e. whether the mobile telephone is in Message mode or not,and when that text is displayed the Navigator soft key offers “Change”.

[0054] Suppose that the mobile telephone is in Normal mode, and that theuser selects “Change”. The control unit sends the “Delivery Mode—MessageOnly” message to the network, moves to the next level, which providesthe options “Some calls”, and “No calls”, and records that the lastDelivery Mode message that it sent was “Message Only”, i.e. that themobile telephone is now in Message mode. On receipt of this message, theNSS 36 ensures that a Delivery Mode flag in a Delivery Mode field 70 inthe user's profile 68 is in its set state, e.g. writes a logic “one” toa one bit flag field. The Delivery Mode field 70 is also referred to asthe Restricted Delivery Mode field, since if its flag is set, thendelivery to the mobile telephone is restricted.

[0055] If the user selects “No calls”, the control unit sends a“Delivery Mode—No calls” message to the network and jumps to an Alertlevel providing the options “Custom alert” and “General alert”. Onreceipt of this message, the NSS 36 ensures that a “PermittedConnections” flag in a Permitted Connection field 72-5 in the user'sprofile 68 is in its reset state.

[0056] If the user selects “Some calls”, the control unit sends a“Delivery Mode—Some calls” message to the network, and moves down alevel to provide the options “Use current profile”, “Edit currentprofile” and “Create custom profile”. On receipt of this message, theNSS 36 ensures that the “Permitted Connections” flag in the user'sprofile 68 is in its set state.

[0057] If the user selects “Use current profile”, the menu system goesto the Alert level. If the user selects “Create custom profile”, themenu system moves to the “Search” level of the Phone book function,ready for the user to find an entry in the Phone book. When an entry hasbeen located, the Navigator soft key offers the function “Select entry”,instead of the normal “Call”. When the user selects an entry, thecontrol unit sends a “Delivery Mode—Permitted Connection Number” messagecontaining the selected number to the network, and the “Search” level isagain offered. If the user has finished selecting entries from the Phonebook, he then presses the “C” or Cancel button, and the menu systemmoves to the Alert level. On receipt of each such message, the NSS 36checks whether the selected number is already in Permitted ConnectionNumber fields 72-6, etc, in the profile 68 and, if not, writes theselected number to a free field. When a selected number is written tothe last free field, the network sends a “Permitted Connection NumberStore full” message to the mobile telephone.

[0058] If the user selects “Edit current profile”, the control unitsends a “Delivery Mode—Edit current profile” message to the network,which responds by sending the numbers stored in the user's “PermittedConnection Number” fields 72-6, etc. By means of further commands, theuser has the options to delete any of the displayed numbers, go to thePhone book search function and select an entry as above for creating acustom profile, or key in a telephone number and send it to the networkin a “Delivery Mode—Permitted Connection Number” message, as above.

[0059] If the user selects “Create custom profile” and the PermittedConnection Number fields 72-6, etc, are full, the network responds in asimilar manner to the user selecting “Edit current profile”, by sendingthe numbers stored in the user's Permitted Connection Number fields72-6, etc, and the user can now edit the stored numbers.

[0060] When at the Alert level, if the user selects “General alert”,then the menu system moves out of the Message mode function and returnsto the its root level in which the Navigator soft key offers thefunction “Menu”. If the user selects “Custom alert”, the menu systemprovides the options “Discreet”, “Vibration” and the like, and including“Tones”. This last option enables the user to select a differentincoming call alert or a different incoming SMS message alert from thatselected for use when the mobile telephone is not in Message mode, or inother words when the Restricted Delivery Mode flag of the user's profilein the network is in its reset state.

[0061] In FIG. 2, there is shown a GSM network 30 constituted by foursubsystems, namely, Mobile Station Subsystem (MSS) 32, Base StationSubsystem (BSS) 34, Network Switching Subsystem (NSS) 36 and OperationSubsystem (OSS) 38. Global communications is achieved by interconnectionof spaced apart national-based GSM networks operated by differentrespective network operators.

[0062] The GSM system is well known to the skilled person in the art andis described below only in high-level detail. However, should any readerrequire more information, he will find a number of publications on GSM,particularly, “The GSM System for Mobile Communications” by M. Mouly andM. B. Pautet, ISBN 2-9507190-0-7, published 1992 by the authors thereof.

[0063] The MSS 32 comprises a plurality of the mobile telephones 10,and, until 100% penetration of the mobile telephone market by mobiletelephones 10, there will be a plurality of conventional mobiletelephones 40.

[0064] The BSS 34 comprises a plurality of base transceiver stations 42and a plurality of base station controllers 44, only one which is shown.Each of the base station controllers 44 is connected to the NSS 36 andto a plurality of the base transceiver stations 42.

[0065] The NSS 36 comprises an exchange system 46 and user and terminalequipment databases 48. The exchange system 46 comprises a plurality ofinterconnected mobile services switching centres 50, only one which isshown, which are connected to the user and terminal equipment databases48.

[0066] The OSS 38 comprises an operation and maintenance centre 52 whichis connected, via a data network 54, to the BSS 34 and the NSS 36, andis arranged to manage the user and terminal equipment databases 48.

[0067] The user and terminal equipment databases 48 comprise a homelocation register (HLR) 56, a visitor location register (VLR) 58 and anequipment identity register 60.

[0068] A Voicemail system 62 is connected to the exchange system 46 andincludes an interactive voice response facility (IVR) 64 capable ofgenerating selected announcements, and a speech to text converter 66.

[0069] The HLR 56 is a database which stores user profiles 68 (see FIG.3), which contain user-specific information relevant to the provision oftelecommunications services and identifying whether a given teleserviceor bearer service can be provided for a user, and also user preferences.

[0070] The VLR 58 temporarily stores subscription data for users who arenormally registered with a different home GSM network and who arecurrently registered with the GSM network 30, i.e. under a roamingarrangement.

[0071]FIG. 3 shows a user profile 68 comprising, inter alia, a DeliveryMode field 70 containing a flag which, when set, is indicative of thenetwork delivery mode for calls to that called user currently being,prima facie, “Message Only” mode, i.e. that either the mobile telephoneis in low battery condition or the user has selected Message Only mode,e.g. from the menu. The user profile 68 also comprises a number offields 72-1, 72-2, etc for enabling the user to specify in detail howthe network is to handle incoming calls when the Delivery Mode flag isset. For those users who do not yet use a mobile telephone 10, theirDelivery Mode flags will be permanently in their reset state. Invariants, the user profiles are of two types, namely the user profile 68which has a Delivery Mode field 70, and a user profile (not shown) whichdoes not have such a Delivery Mode field 70 and associated fields 72.

[0072] If the flag in the Delivery Mode field 70 is set, the NSS 36first checks the contents of the fields 72-1 etc.

[0073] If a flag in a Send Short Message System (SMS) Message field 72-1is set, then the user has elected for the network to invite the callerto send a message to the called user, in the manner described below.

[0074] If a flag in a Divert to Voicemail field 72-2 is set, then theuser has elected to have calls diverted to the Voicemail system 62.

[0075] If there is an e-mail address in a Send E-mail field 72-3, thenthe user has elected to have the caller's message sent to him in ane-mail message.

[0076] If there is an telephone number in a Send Fax field 72-4, thenthe user has elected to have the caller's message sent to him in a faxmessage.

[0077] The e-mail address in the Send E-mail field 72-3, and the faxaddress in the Send Fax field 72-4 constitute other service destinationaddresses of the present invention.

[0078] If a flag is set in a Permitted Connection field 72-5, then theuser has elected to have a call whose CLI matches a “Permitted”telephone number contained in one of Permitted Connection Number fields72-6, etc, delivered to his mobile telephone 10. The user might chooseto have calls from a spouse or a child always delivered, even though hismobile telephone is in low battery condition, and the Delivery Mode flagis set. The user may leave the numbers entered in the PermittedConnection Number fields 72-6, etc, unchanged on a medium to long termbasis, but can select when to have the network deliver Permitted callsby setting or resetting the Permitted Connection flag.

[0079] In variants, the Send E-mail field 72-3 and the Send Fax field72-4 each comprises a respective pair of subfields, one of the pairstores the respective address or number, and the other stores a flagwhich indicates whether the user has elected that delivery method.

[0080] The user can control the contents of the fields 70 and 72, i.e.change the state of flags, enter addresses and numbers, and change ordelete them, by sending appropriate control messages from his mobiletelephone to the NSS 36, via the above mentioned predetermined telephonenumber.

[0081] The NSS 36 is arranged to respond to an incoming call having theabove mentioned predetermined destination address, i.e. a “DeliveryMode—Message Only” message, by retrieving the message content of thatincoming call. Upon recognising the retrieved message as the abovementioned unique code representative of the Delivery Mode—Message Onlymode, the NSS 36 accesses the user profiles in accordance with a sourcetelephone number retrieved from the incoming call, finds thecorresponding user profile and changes the flag in its Delivery Modefield 70 from its reset state to its set state. If the Delivery Modeflag is in its reset state, then delivery of calls to the user is notrestricted, but if the Delivery Mode flag is set, this constitutes aRestricted Delivery mode of the present invention.

[0082] Additionally, the NSS 36 generates a short call to the user'smobile telephone 10. Thus, the user's mobile telephone 10 gives a callalert signal for a few seconds, which serves as an audio warning signal.The network also sends an SMS message containing the text “MessageOnly”, or in a variant “Receive Only”. In a variant, the network doesnot send that SMS message but, instead, a text message, e.g. “BatteryLow, Message Only”, is stored in a memory location in the mobiletelephone 10 and the control unit 16 responds to the receipt of thatbrief call, i.e. the first received call after sending the “DeliveryMode—Message Only” message, to retrieve this text, and to display it. Inanother variant, the network does not generate the short call but,instead, the control unit 16 is also arranged to generate a tone alertfor the user at the same time as it sends the “Delivery Mode—MessageOnly” message to the network. This tone alert might be a specific tunenot used or selected for call alerting, or a combination of beeps.

[0083] The NSS 36 is arranged to respond to an originating call from acaller, also referred to herein as a calling user, using a mobiletelephone 10 or 40, to access the user profile 68 associated with thecalled number, and ascertain the state of the flag in the Delivery Modefield 70.

[0084] If the flag in the Delivery Mode field 70 is set, and the flag inthe Permitted Connection field 72-5 is set, the NSS 36 first checks thecontents of the Permitted Connection Number fields 72-6, etc, to seewhether that originating call is to be delivered to the called user,even though the Delivery Mode flag is set, i.e. by checking whether theCLI of that originating call matches the content of one of the PermittedConnection Number fields 72-6, etc.

[0085] If the caller's CLI matches a number in one of the PermittedConnection Number fields 72-6, etc, the NSS 36 responds to thatoriginating call from that caller by sending an appropriate announcementselection signal to the Voicemail system 62 for generating by the IVR 64the selected announcement, “Your call is being connected. Please notethat the number you have called is in Message Mode.”, or some othersuitable announcement. In this way, the caller knows that the battery ofthe called telephone might well be in a low charge state and he can thusavoid unnecessary conversation. Similarly, the called user will knowfrom the fact that he has received a voice call whilst his Delivery Modeflag is set that the caller has been made aware that his telephonebattery might be in a low charge state, and, again, unnecessaryconversation can be avoided because the called user does have to wastetime warning the caller about that condition.

[0086] If, however, the caller's CLI does not match a number in one ofthe Permitted Connection Number fields 72-6, etc, the NSS 36 proceeds tocheck the fields 72-1 to 72-4. Assuming that the called user has leftthe fields 72-3 and 72-4 containing null data, has not set the flag inthe Divert to Voicemail field 72-2, and has set the flag in the Send SMSMessage field 72-1, the NSS 36 responds to that originating call bysending an appropriate announcement selection signal to the Voicemailsystem 62 for generating by the IVR 64 the selected announcement, “Thenumber you have called is in Message Mode. You may speak a short messageor key a text message, and it will be delivered by SMS.”. Other suitablemessages can be used, for example, “The number you have called is notaccepting calls. You may speak a short message or key a text message,and it will be delivered by SMS.”, and instead of using the term MessageMode in the announcement, any other equivalent expression could be used.These announcements played to the caller constitute an indication thatthe called user is currently in restricted delivery mode, and areindicative that the called user can receive a text form message.

[0087] The default condition is that NSS 36 sets the flag in the SendSMS Message field 72-1 at the same time as it sets the flag in theDelivery Mode field 70, although in variants, the flag in the Send SMSMessage field 72-1 remains in its reset state when the NSS 36 sets theflag in the Delivery Mode field 70.

[0088] If two or more delivery modes are possible for a call, e.g. bothSMS message and Voicemail, the NSS 36 sends an appropriate announcementselection signal to the Voicemail system 62 for generating by the IVR 64a corresponding announcement, in this case, “For delivery by SMS, key orspeak one. For delivery by Voicemail, key or speak two.”. This will varyin dependence upon which delivery modes are available, for example oneannouncement might be “For delivery by SMS, key or speak one. Fordelivery by Fax, key or speak two.”, and another announcement might be“For delivery by SMS, key or speak one. For delivery by Voicemail, keyor speak two. For delivery by E-mail, key or speak three. For deliveryby Fax, key or speak four.”.

[0089] If the caller is offered, or has selected, SMS delivery, andspeaks a message, this is received by the IVR 64 and passed to thespeech to text converter 66 to be converted into the appropriate formatto be sent to the called number as an SMS message. Alternatively, thecaller may enter his mobile telephone's menu, and select the WriteMessage function from the Message Function, and use his keypad to createa text message. When he has finished creating the text message, he sendsthe message by selecting Options, and then Send.

[0090] The NSS 36 receives either the text message output from thespeech to text converter 66, or the text message sent by the caller, andgenerates an SMS message and sends that to the called number.

[0091] The control unit 16 is arranged to respond to the battery beingrecharged to a higher state of charge, for example at least threesegments showing on the display, to send to the network at the abovementioned predetermined destination address a “Delivery Mode—Normal”message. The NSS 36 responds to receipt of this message by resetting theflag in the Delivery Mode field 70. The “Delivery Mode—Normal” messagecan also be sent in response to selection by the user of DeliveryMode—Normal option from the menu.

[0092] In an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 4, a FET switch 28 isdisposed in series with the battery power line to the transmit circuit24, and the gate of a FET switch 28 is connected to the control unit 16.

[0093] In this alternative embodiment, after the control unit 16 hastransmitted the “Delivery Mode—Message Only” message, it disables thetransmit circuit 24 by means of a control signal applied to the gate ofthe FET switch 28. In order that the standard response messages whichthe mobile telephone 10 generates and transmits in response to receiptof standard GSM interrogation signals from the network can still betransmitted, even though the transmit circuit 24 has been disabled, thecontrol unit 16 is arranged to respond to receipt of each standard GSMinterrogation signal by providing an override signal which disables theeffect of the control signal applied to the gate of the FET switch, andthus allows the mobile telephone 10 to send a respective standardresponse message, thus enabling the network to continue to be able todetermine the location of the mobile telephone in the usual manner.

[0094] This alternative embodiment is particularly beneficial in mobiletelephony and provides an advantage that a caller is immediately alertedto the situation that the called user's mobile telephone might have beenswitched from full duplex operation, i.e. both receive and transmitfunctionality, to simplex functionality, i.e. receive mode only, thusenabling a calling user to be confident that in the event of receipt ofsuch a network announcement the called user's mobile was not switchedoff, either by intention or due to low battery charge, and the calleduser would be able to receive messages. If the called user's mobile hadswitched itself off because of low battery voltage, the called userwould be completely ignorant of any incoming messages, voice or text,until he had replaced or recharged the battery, and then entered theRead Messages or Missed Calls functions of the menu, or had accessed aVoicemail service to check whether any messages had been left.Furthermore, the calling user would receive a standard announcement tothe effect that the call could not be connected, and this could lead tofrustration that the calling user could not get a message to the calleduser. In the case where the called user had set Divert to Voicemail inthe event that an incoming call could not be connected, the calling userwill still not know when, and if, the called user will next retrievemessages from the Voicemail service.

[0095] Whereas in the above described embodiment the network 30 is a GSMnetwork, it will be appreciated that this is not a limiting factor ofthe present invention and that the network 30 could equally well be aGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network.

[0096] Whereas in the above described embodiment the control messagesfrom the mobile telephone sent to the above mentioned predeterminedtelephone number are received directly by the NSS 36 and handled by theprofile management program forming part of the control programs of theNSS 36, this profile management program managing the fields of theuser's profile, e.g. changing the state of flags, entering addresses andnumbers, and changing or deleting them, in a variant the controlmessages are received at the operation and maintenance centre 52, andthe management of the profile in the NSS 36 is performed remotely bycontrol programs in the operation and maintenance centre 52, or manuallyby network operations personnel at the operation and maintenance centre52 if the user communicates his intentions for profile change otherwisethan by the control messages sent from his mobile telephone.

[0097] Whereas in the above mentioned variant, the NSS 36 retrieves astored menu function identifier from a field 82 associated with SMSmessages, and sends a menu function command signal in association withthe SMS message, in a further variant the menu function command signalis incorporated within a modified alert command message transmitted tothe called user's mobile telephone to trigger its internal ringer. Inthis case, the mobile telephone simultaneously rings and auto-configuresin accordance with the menu function command, ready for the called userto respond. The modified alert command message might include otheradditional information for use by the called user's mobile telephone forcontrol of its operation or for display.

[0098] Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise”, “comprising” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive as opposed to an exclusive orexhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but notlimited to”.

1. A method of operating a communications network having a user profilestore, the method comprising the steps of: retrieving a dialleddestination number from signalling data of a call from a calling user toa called user; accessing the user profile store in accordance with thatretrieved dialled destination number to find a corresponding userprofile; ascertaining whether a delivery mode field of a user profile sofound contains an indication corresponding to restricted delivery mode;and if so sending to the calling user an indication that the called useris currently in restricted delivery mode.
 2. A method as claimed inclaim 1, including the further steps of retrieving a calling lineidentity from the signalling data, ascertaining whether the retrievedcalling line identity matches an entry in a permitted connections fieldof the called user's user profile, and if there is a matching entryproceeding with the call, else not proceeding with the call.
 3. A methodas claimed in claim 1, wherein the indication that the called user iscurrently in restricted delivery mode is indicative that the called usercan receive a text form message, and including the step of responding toreceipt of message data from that calling user by sending a text formmessage to the called user.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 3, whereinthe received message data is in the form of a spoken message, andincluding the step of converting the received message data into textform.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the received messagedata is already in text form.
 6. A method as claimed in any one ofclaims 3 to 5, including the step of ascertaining whether the calleduser's profile contains at least one other service destination address,and if so sending to the calling user an invitation for the calling userto select one or more of said at least one other service destinationaddress for additional delivery of said text form message.
 7. Atelephone comprising control means arranged to respond to apredetermined condition by transmitting via a transmit function of thetelephone a message having a predetermined destination address and apredetermined message content.
 8. A telephone as claimed in claim 7,wherein a user provided command constitutes a said predeterminedcondition.
 9. A telephone as claimed in claim 8, wherein the userprovided command is selected from a menu.
 10. A telephone as claimed inany one of claims 7 to 9, being battery powered, and having batteryvoltage sensing means arranged to generate a predetermined output whenthe battery voltage falls to a predetermined level, and wherein thegeneration of said predetermined output constitutes a said predeterminedcondition.
 11. A telephone as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10,wherein said control means is further arranged to provide apredetermined display on a screen of the telephone indicative of thepredetermined condition.
 12. A telephone as claimed in any one of claims7 to 11, wherein said control means is further arranged to activate,upon completion of that transmission, means for selectively disablingthe transmit function.
 13. A telephone as claimed in claim 12, whereinsaid control means is further arranged to override said means forselectively disabling the transmit function for the purpose of allowingtransmission of responses to interrogation signals from a communicationsnetwork.
 14. A telephone as claimed in either claim 12 or claim 13,wherein said control means is further arranged to provide an audiooutput upon activation of said means for selectively disabling thetransmit function.
 15. A communications network having a user profilestore, and arranged: to retrieve a dialled destination number fromsignalling data of a call from a calling user to a called user; toaccess the user profile store in accordance with that retrieved dialleddestination number to find a corresponding user profile; to ascertainwhether a delivery mode field of a user profile so found contains anindication corresponding to receive only mode; and if so to send to thecalling user an indication that the called user is currently in receiveonly mode.
 16. A communications network as claimed in claim 15, andarranged to retrieve a calling line identity from the signalling data,to ascertain whether the retrieved calling line identity matches anentry in a permitted connections field of the called user's userprofile, and if there is a matching entry to proceed with the call, elsenot to proceed with the call.
 17. A communications network as claimed inclaim 15, and arranged to respond to receipt of message data from thatcalling user by sending a text form message to the called user.
 18. Acommunications network as claimed in claim 17, and arranged to respondto receipt of said message data in the form of a spoken message, and toconvert the spoken message into text form.
 19. A communications networkas claimed in either claim 17 or claim 18, and arranged to ascertainwhether the called user's profile contains at least one other servicedestination address, and if so to send to the calling user an invitationfor the calling user to select one or more of said at least one otherservice destination address for additional delivery of said text formmessage.
 20. A communications network as claimed in claim 1, andsubstantially as herein described with reference to FIG. 2 of thedrawings.
 21. A telephone as claimed in claim 7, and substantially asherein described with reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings.
 22. Acommunications network as claimed in claim 15, and substantially asherein described with reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings.